Mairead's Story to Help Graduate Jobseekers

Last week I wrote about the amazing team at Expect Talent, so this week I am going to introduce you to our newest team member Mairead Collins.  Mairead has written this week's blog to help all graduates out there who are currently looking for a new job, her story will inspire and motivate you to take action.  

Mairead: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Mairead, the newest Talent Manager in Expect Talent.  I graduated in 2010 with an honors Degree in Business and Hospitality. Graduating in the height of recession is obviously not easy, and getting a job in the field where you would like your career to progress is next to impossible or so I thought last June (2010).  Like many of my peers I applied for countless positions online every day, most of them getting no response, and when I did receive a response it generally said “sorry you do not have enough experience in this area" and the famous last words “we will keep your CV on file and should a position arise that is suited to your experience we will contact you “.

By the end of the summer months I was getting extremely disheartened about this and knew I had to do something in order to get my career started. I decided to search for an internship and I was very lucky to get a HR internship with a Global IT company called EMC, based in Cork. Here I got so much experience in the area of HR and Recruitment, learning from brilliant people with great knowledge and the experience I gained was invaluable to my career. 

As a result of this experience, I have now got a fantastic new position working with a great role model, and a great team, gaining even more experience in HR and Recruitment.  If I was to give any graduate advice for the future, internships are the way to go. Working in an unpaid position gaining experience is one of the best decisions I have ever made as it shows future employers that you are dedicated, motivated and interested in getting gaining experience.  Having this on my CV helped me secure my current position."

Mairead interviewed for the job at Expect Talent alongside 5 other candidates for her role as a Talent Manager.  She was selected because of her drive, commitment and dedication shown through the fact that she was willing to work for 5 months unpaid just to gain experience in her chosen field.  She also demonstrated a high level of proactiveness and a strong fit with the core values of our business.  We look forward to developing and upskilling Mairead and helping her to achieve he personal and professional goals.  If you have any comments or questions for Mairead please post them here.  

Having a Brilliant Team - Hiring Strategies

When I asked my team for ideas on a topic for this week's blog, they suggested I write about our fantastic team!!  Brilliant, what a great idea.  So I started to think about what makes them so brilliant at what they do, and how could the way that we develop our own in-house staff help others who might be reading this. 

1.  Hiring from outside of your Industry

Very often clients ask us to find them candidates with a number of years experience in their industry. However, this is not always the best route to finding the best talent.  All of my recruitment team have previously NEVER worked in recruitment.  Why? As you will know by now, the way we look at the whole industry and work with customers is so different from all other agencies that it would take far too much time to untrain bad habits, and the fact that we do not incentivise our recruitment team with commission does not suit or appeal to people who have already worked in the industry. 

I always look to hire people with a passion for excellence, a high level of customer service and strong account management skills.  Attention to detail and strong multi-tasking and organisational skills are critical.  Attitude, Attitude, Attitude.  Do you need to have industry experience to become an expert recruiter?  With the right training, environment and support of course not.  The same applies to many industries, companies are often missing out on great talent by only sticking to people with their own industry background.  So next time you go to hire, think outside the box.

2.  Win Happy

I heard the theme for 2011 of great Cork PR company this week, it's "Win Happy!", its not just about the revenue its about the happiness and fun factor of the team too.  The happiness factor and the motivation levels of any team are closely linked to productivity.  We have a staff happiness survey each quarter, and we measure our teams happiness factor.  This for me is what makes our team so brilliant, we have fun regardless of how busy we are, its great to be around happy and motivated people who love what they do.

3.  Commitment & Dedication

Over the 5 years we have built up a great team of Talent Managers and Administrators, their commitment to us as a business and their dedication to our candidates and clients is second to none. Without the team we would not be anywhere near as successful and for that I am extremely grateful.  The "above and beyond" mentality of every one in the team, means that we can deliver great results and be very flexible to clients demands.  This attitude is so important to any company and contributes hugely to the business. 

4.  Development Opportunities

A lack of opportunity for progression is often the reason people leave a company, so the development of my team is critical, giving them opportunities to learn, to upskill and to develop on a personal and professional level is vital to retaining the great talent that we have.  I want to help them all achieve their goals in life, and if the business can make that happen then all the better. 

5.  Celebrating Success, Reward & Recognition

Each member of our team has a "Success Diary", they record their successes no matter how big or small and the first item in our team meeting agenda is each person sharing one success from the previous week.  By focusing on the positive, we attract more great successes, and this keeps everyones mindset in a good place.  We recognise and reward in ways other than commission, surprise vouchers, team nights out, our famous "Friday Club" - team lunch on the house every week, and social time together outside of work.  Celebration of Success and feeling part of something special is what helps to make a brilliant team.

So this is my opportunity to recognise and thank all of my amazing team members - Julia, Margaret, Chris, Jackie, Pablo, Mairead, Caitriona, Lucy, Una, thank you for everything that you do, this business would be nowhere without your hard work, commitment, dedication and great talents. 

How do you develop your team and would you ever consider hiring people with no experience in your industry?

How Internships Can Be a Strategy For Hiring Talent

As a business owner, when I first started out, I was wearing lots of hats! Trying to do everything and struggling to focus on I was actually supposed to be doing to grow the business. So I hired an intern from Interconnection (http://www.i4b.eu/), back in 2005, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.  Dounia went on to become our first employee, as Administrator and is now a PA for a senior Director in a Cosmetics company doing very well in her career.

Many internships are funded by colleges or universites and the interns come fully insured, usually free of charge to the company.  Since 2005, I have had 17 interns come through my business, from France, Spain, Poland, Germany, Austria and to date I have actually hired 3 of them!  Today's blog will give both angles - one from the candidate perspective and one from the client perspective and show you why Internships are a great strategy for your career or business and a path to great talent.

There are some great organisations out there who help people with work placements and internships such as the National Learning Network (www.nln.ie), who provide training and upskilling to those people who may otherwise find it difficult to gain employment.  They help people to develop the skills to move forward with their careers and are always looking for companies to take on trainees on an unpaid basis for work experience.

For Companies

If you are a company looking to grow your team, but not in a position to hire someone on a full time permanent basis, you should talk to an internship specialist.  I recommend that you take on interns who are looking for a 3-6 months placement as the time you will invest in training them will be worthwhile, although some interns come for 4-6 weeks. 

I have had interns in my own business help me with data entry, web research, reference checking, sourcing candidates, reporting, PA work and more... Interns are looking to learn the skills they need for the world of work, and they are looking to apply their knowledge from their education.  What better way to give something back and help someone launch their career.  

You may find that the person is brilliant and you can go on to offer them a job, leaving you to focus on what you should be doing!  Whether you are a company large or small then Internships is a path to hiring great talent.  I have just hired a fantastic new team member, who has been working in an unpaid work placement in HR, to gain experience.  Now she has a great job related to HR, Careers and recruitment which is what she wants to do. You can try before you buy with an internship student or work experience placement.  

For Candidates

If you are a job-seeker, then offering to do work experience or an internship with a company, even if you are not being paid is a great idea.  You will get to make valuable contacts in the company at all levels, so even if they are not hiring now, show them what you can do and they may just call you back in when the next job opening comes up. 

You can put the experience on your CV and you will learn new skills in any work experience placement.  An internship very often can lead to a dream job, or can help you refine what career you want to pursue.  You may think that you want to go into a specific industry, but the work experience will soon give you exposure to the reality of that particular field and you may decide to take a new direction. 

I did some work experience in London at 18 years old, in a Marketing agency, and within a week I was being offered a dream job! This launched my career and was the best strategy to get into a competitive industry.   

Has every single intern been fantastic, well no of course not, but I have learnt to really guage their level of interest in the company, the industry I am in and their reason for wanting to do the placement before accepting them into the company.  If they are a match, I then align their career goals with what I can offer them and give them tasks which fit with their goals.  It has to be win-win-win for everyone and you need to dedicate time to training them so that you can both benefit from the experience.

I would love to hear your own views and experience with internships and work placements, so please feel free to leave a comment below. 

   

Multilingual Talent in Demand across Ireland

Thanks to great efforts and work by the IDA  there is still a big demand for multilingual talent in Ireland.  The most challenging of languages is something we have always loved to work on here at Expect Talent. 

We usually get invited to work with a client when they have been trying to recruit for an obscure language combination, and been unsuccessful through their own methods.  Of course, it is not just about the languages, it is also important to secure a candidate with the best skills and experience too.  Expect Talent has always been a specialist in this area, and we have proven to be very strong in sourcing high quality bi-lingual and even tri-lingual candidates which are often most valuable to a company as they can cover mutliple markets. 

I often get asked how we can achieve such great success in this multilingual area, the reply is simple; Quality Relationships; Quality Networks; Quality Team.

Quality Relationships

We have formed partnerships and strategic alliances with organisations and companies across Europe to ensure that we have maximum reach.  We also build relationships across Ireland with referral partners and with all of our candidates with languages.  These relationships allow us to leverage access to candidate markets and constant referrals to the right talent.  Both within the industry and outside we are known for being experts in multilingual recruitment so this helps us to build relationships which are mutually beneficuak. 

Quality Networks

Our online and offline networks give us access to multilingual talent across the globe. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, online networks such as LinkedIN, Twitter and Facebook help out recruiters to contact candidates with languages for all types of roles.  Our international network through BNI allows us to generate links in 47 countries across the globe. The BNI Global Power Team of which I am Vice President gives us as an agency, unrivalled access to multilingual talent.

Quality Team

Having knowledge of local markets in Europe within our own team is critical. Our Talent Managers and support team cover many European Languages including Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian and of course English.  The ability to tap into local forums, careers centres, universities, local social networks and jobsites allows with native speakers who understand the country and local market allows us to generate an ongoing pipeline of candidates. It is important that we can respond instantly when a client needs languages.  We regularly attend recruitment fairs in EU countries, so that we can be ahead of the pack and secure candidates faster for our clients.

The Future for Languages in Ireland

Ireland remains an attractive place for large corporations to run their European operation, and despite the economic climate, there are more and more companies generating jobs here.  Great to see Quest Software's arrival into Cork and companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Big Fish Games and Blizzard Entertainment growing and developing their need for top multilingual talent.  We fully expect this to be a great year for job creation in Ireland and based on the activity levels we have seen within our clients in the first few weeks of this year, there is huge opportunity for candidates with the right skills and experience to secure a great opportunity in this country.

There are always great opportunities available for multilingual talent across all parts of Ireland, especially for Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, German and all Scandinavian languages.  Whether it be for an entry level position in customer support, or sales, finance or administration.  But, it can also can be a significant advantage for top level management.  To find out more, contact our specialist team at info@expect-talent.com.    

CV Tips - What Did You Actually Do?

Here at the Expect Talent HQ, we receive hundreds of CV’s every month. Most of the time we are left asking ourselves this question: 

WHAT DID YOU ACTUALLY DO?

Most CV’s are a list of dates along with a job description, or list of responsibilities. That tells us nothing about what you actually did!  This is a common mistake by candidates, and one which, if you can get right, you stand a good chance of securing an interview.  You have less than 10 seconds to impress with your CV as many hiring managers and HR departments will receive hundreds of applications for just one role. 

We are currently working for a large Cork based multinational client in Cork, and we hired over 300 people for them in just 12 weeks, however we received in excess of 4500 CV's for these positions. 

So what can you do to increase your chances of success?

Rather than list your responsibilities, start by listing your key achievements. Think about what you personally achieved that delivered a great result for the business or for one of your customers? Thinking about your CV this way turns a boring responsibility into something that a client or potential employer might actually want in their business!

Example 1:

TURN THIS... "Responsible for Collections on outstanding accounts"

INTO THIS... "Significantly improved bottom line by securing an additional €200,000 in outstanding monies through effective cash collection."

Example 2:

TURN THIS: "Responsible for Customer Service"

INTO THIS: "Increased customer satisfaction levels by 30%, by regularly going above and beyond, which helped the company to retain its biggest client and win new business."

Example 3:

TURN THIS: "Responsible for Admin Procedures.

INTO THIS: "Significantly enhanced internal reporting and admin procedures which saved the team 26 days per annum in un-necessary workload. My ideas for improvements are regularly implemented by senior management."

Every element of your CV should be aimed at securing you an interview.  Your CV is a sales document designed to show off your talents!  It should not just be a chronological history of all the places where you have worked.

If you want a CV professionally written, or you feel you would benefit from careers advice you can now contact our careers team for a free consultation with Patrick Mercie and Expect Careers.  Email sam@expect.ie for more details.

Networking, Social Media & Recruitment

This morning I was interviewed for a national newspaper in Ireland, in relation to Expect Talent and our incredible 2010, a very positive piece of PR thanks to Anne Kiely & Associates.  One of the questions I have been asked to comment on is "How important has networking and relationship building been in your business, and do you think it is important for a recruitment company?".

Whether you are a jobseeker, business owner or hiring manager reading this, my answer has to be that it is CRITICAL.  Your network of contacts should be one of the best sources of help, support and referrals and is absolutely key to your success.  My own business has grown through effective networking, relationship building and word of mouth, through involvement in organisations like BNI.  I learnt how build relationships and grow my network by educating and upskilling myself on referral marketing.  I have always applied "Givers Gain" to all apsects of life and work, which is the key philosophy of BNI.  By helping others to grow their business and giving something back to other people whether it be a referral, testimonial, advice or support is one of the best ways to grow your business and increase your visibility and credibility which leads to more business.

The depth and breadth of your connections in your personal and business life will always play a major role in the development of your career and your business.  Any recruitment business owner who is not upskilling themselves and their recruitment team on networking both face to face and online will find it increasingly difficult to grow their client and candidate base.  Why cold-call when you can learn how to effectively grow a business through relationships and word of mouth?  It still amazes me how many companies are cold-calling rather than really getting to know the people around them who can help.  If you want to learn how to leverage your contacts then I recommend reading "Life, Business and Speedboats" written by my good friend Iain Whyte.

I was also asked the question in my interview - "How has the recruitment sector evolved in the last 18 months?".  The importance of social media and online networking has meant a huge shift in the way that companies now hire and source great talent for their business.  For example, over 95% of companies now use LinkedIn for recruitment.  If you want to learn more amazing stats on social media  and its impact on the recruitment sector,  just take a look at this video from Socionomics. 

Most internal recruiters for large organisations are now trained on how to find great talent through online networking, recruiters in agencies are using these social media tools for recruitment all the time.  If you are looking for a new job then make sure your profile can be found on LinkedIn, and make sure that your Facebook page is professional and represents you well, you never know who might be looking at it.  In 2010 over 60% of our permanent placements were candidates who we found through LinkedIn.   

More than ever, networking and social media play a massive part in the world of recruitment and job-seeking.   I would love to hear how networking and social media has helped you as a job-seeker, hiring manager or business owner.  So why not take action today, and make social media or networking part of your 2011 recruitment or job-seeking strategy. 

New Year... Expect Careers...

Happy New Year to everyone. I can just tell that 2011 is going to absolutely rock! 

Here at Expect Talent we are focusing more and more on our customers, and in the recruitment world that is both Candidates and Clients.  In this competitive jobs market, having an outstanding CV and the confidence to nail an interview is absolutely critical to your success. So as part of the 2011 offering may I introduce to you...

Expect Careers will focus entirely on Candidates, covering services such as professional CV writing, interview techniques and career coaching.  This new arm of the business will help any candidate to stand out from the crowd with a brilliant CV, and will help them to secure that dream job with the best advice on how to shine at interview. 

Think about this... When you need to get your boiler fixed, you call a professional.  When your car breaks down, you call a professional.  When you want a new haircut, you don't leave it to chance, you call a professional!  Your CV and career is no different - why try and do it yourself when the professional touch will always deliver a better result.  Professional CV's that stand out can make all the difference between securing that interview or not.  Whether you are job-seeking for the first time in years, or fresh out of college Expect Careers can help you or someone you know.

Patrick Mercie, will be a kay part of the Expect Careers team, and he brings wealth of knowledge and experience in helping job-seekers to achieve success.  His coaching style is interactive, motivational, energetic and non-judgemental. 

Patrick has an infectious personality and is completely focused on positivity and getting results for every person he works with.  Patrick will be contributing to the blog to help all candidates with hints and tips that will brighten any jobsearch so watch out for his words of wisdom in the months to come.

There is still more to come for this year, but for now may I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a prosperous, happy and healthy 2011!  It's going to be a great year...